As the year draws to a close, we at Marvin Test Solutions thank you for making 2016 a year of wonderful interaction and mutual growth. We’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work with many of you on solutions that meet the requirements of your production and test facilities, mission readiness, as well as meeting those of your customers. In the coming year, you can count on us to design and develop innovative solutions that are tailored to meet your needs. And, importantly, we will continue to provide unrivaled long-term support.

Best Wishes to you and yours for joyful holidays and a prosperous New Year!

Steve

Stephen T. Sargeant, CEO

We hope you enjoy this month's issue of Test Connections which includes new product updates and news events.
Please send your comments or suggestions regarding this newsletter to marketing@MarvinTest.com.

In the decades since it made its debut on the battlefields of the mid-20th Century, the helicopter has come into its own as a nimble, responsive platform capable of performing a variety of missions over widely divergent terrain. Supporting these aircraft presents unique challenges for the military services.

ATEasy® is a flexible integrated Test Executive development environment for board and system-level test. Intellitech’s NEBULA software provides an important bridge from ATEasy to JTAG accessible on-chip instruments when a non-intrusive method of test is required.

Marvin Test Solutions has extended its successful TS-900 PXI semiconductor test platform with the addition of the new TS-960e system which offers PXI Express (PXIe) performance and expanded test capabilities for RF devices and SoC applications.

Get to know ATEasy® with Marvin Test Solutions’ Intro Kits. Read on
to learn more.

Legacy Test Systems: Replace or Maintain? A review of the various options available to test engineers when faced with replacing or maintaining a test system. Click here
to learn more.

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Combat Helicopter Armament and Munitions Test

The Rise of the Attack and Armed Combat HelicopterIn the decades since it made its debut on the battlefields of the mid-20th Century, the helicopter has come into its own as a nimble, responsive platform capable of performing a variety of missions over widely divergent terrain. Supporting these aircraft presents unique challenges for the military services.

While originally used primarily in utility and/or observation roles, the advantages of arming these aircraft soon became apparent. Ad-hoc additions of weapons to existing helicopter platforms served to increase their value on the battlefield, but as weapons systems evolved, so did the role of the armed helicopter. Dedicated attack helicopters were developed in the 1960’s, providing more robust warfighting capabilities.

The Challenges of Rotary Wing Armament TestWhile the capabilities of the armament available to rotary wing aircraft have steadily evolved, armament test, particularly on or near the flightline, still has a significant amount of “catch up” to do. The integration of sophisticated sensor suites and sophisticated smart weapons adds complexities to the interfaces between and among systems and sub-systems, potentially shortchanging proper functional test of armament and degrading or otherwise compromising mission and sortie success.

To support the armament test needs of rotary wing operators, Marvin Test Solutions offers a line of ruggedized test solutions which can serve on the flightline and in austere environments, as well as in intermediate and depot level applications, providing more comprehensive test and troubleshooting capabilities. All of these solutions are based upon key concepts designed to increase value and reduce logistical burdens, including Commonality, Modularity, Adaptability and Sustainability. These test solutions include:

Using IEEE 1149.1-2013 (JTAG) with ATEasy®

ATEasy is a flexible integrated Test Executive development environment for board and system-level test. Intellitech’s NEBULA software provides an important bridge from ATEasy to JTAG accessible on-chip instruments when a non-intrusive method of test is required. The user can compile IEEE 1149.1-2013 instrument descriptions and operational libraries in PDL within Intellitech’s NEBULA or Eclipse™ software and then access these procedures from ATEasy.

On-chip instruments are as useful as external GPIB/PXI/VXI/LXI based instruments and have the advantage over those instruments in that they don’t require physical access.

IEEE 1149.1-2013 added substantially to the original IEEE 1149.1-2001 standard for supporting test structures inside the IC. It includes definitions of hierarchically-accessible Intellectual Property (IP) blocks, standalone descriptions of IP block functions, and support for a standardized procedural language which allows communication to all things in the silicon via the Test Access Port (TAP).

When integrated with boundary-scan tools to read values such as temperature and on-board voltages, ATEasy can be used to support JTAG/IEEE 1149.1 based instrument control, programming and test. Overall test program flow and control is basically the same for the older boundary-scan interconnect tests or FPGA programming via JTAG as it is for the new on-chip register support.

By incorporating tools such as NEBULA with ATEasy, board and system test engineers have additional test capabilities that offer robust and non-contact test capabilities.

TS-960e PXI Express Semiconductor Test System

New Semiconductor Test SystemMarvin Test Solutions has extended its successful TS-900 PXI semiconductor test platform with the addition of the new TS-960e system which offers PXI Express (PXIe) performance and expanded test capabilities for RF devices and SoC applications.

The TS-960e platform combines 256, 125 MHz digital I/O channels with per-pin-PMU with multiple RF and analog test instruments in a single, 21-slot PXIe chassis. Available as a bench top or with an integrated manipulator, the TS-960e platform takes full advantage of the PXIe architecture to achieve a full-featured test solution for digital, mixed–signal or RF test applications.

Newsworthy Happenings at Marvin Test Solutions

Recent Trade Shows

Our busy trade show calendar has brought us some exciting opportunities to connect with customers and learn more about the test challenges they are facing. This interaction is key to our goal of making test easy by understanding our customers’ requirements and delivering the solutions and support they need to ensure mission success.

AUTOTESTCONAUTOTESTCON brings together the military and aerospace automatic test industry, and government/military acquirers and users to share new technologies, discuss innovative applications, and exhibit products and services. We hope you were able to join us as we celebrated the 25th anniversary of our ATEasy test development / test executive software suite with cupcakes and champagne!

AFA Air, Space & Cyber ConferenceWe were proud to be part of this Air Force Association event focused on the issues and challenges facing the Air Force and the aviation community.It was a privilege for our team to demonstrate our support for the United States Air Force (and its partners and allies) and we were pleased to have the opportunity to discuss many of our armament and munitions test solutions as well as provide information on the Alternate Mission Equipment manufactured by Marvin Engineering Company.

EDI CONOur first year at EDI CON brought an opportunity to highlight the new RF test capabilities of our TS-960e semiconductor test system. We hope you were able to attend, and we look forward to continuing the discussions we started there.

Logistics Officer Association Annual SymposiumWith the focus on maintenance, we were pleased to showcase our armament and munitions test products and solutions that address test needs to streamline maintenance activities for the depot, I-level, and flightline.

F-16 and Proven Aircraft World Wide ReviewThe conference provided an opportunity to learn from the F-16 sustainment experts who maintain complex military armament systems. To support the warfighter, MTS supplies next generation, advanced flightline and I-level test solutions that help to ensure mission readiness for the F-16 and its associated armament and munitions.

ADS 2016 Defense MRO ExhibitionAt this exhibition, focused on Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul of complex military armament systems, we were excited to connect with the MRO community and showcase our solutions for flightline and intermediate level test.

Combat Helicopter ConferenceThis international event gathers together industry and military leaders with a focus on the current technology and future evolution of multi-role rotary platforms. We were proud to present a briefing that showcased the latest in Attack and Armed Helicopter armament and weapons test and maintenance equipment.

"Marvin Test Solutions Announces GENASYS Shipments"Irvine, CA. Sept 12, 2016 - Marvin Test Solutions announced has announced the successful delivery of GENASYS test systems to multiple aerospace primes. These deployments further extend the installed base of the innovative GENASYS platform for testing of mission-critical LRUs and systems.Read more >>

"Marvin Test Solutions' GENASYS Platform Selected for Mission-Critical Systems Test"Irvine, CA. Sept 9, 2016 - Marvin Test Solutions announced that its GENASYS high-performance mixed-signal test system platform has been selected to assure mission readiness of audio, video, and communications systems and other critical electronics for state-of-the-art armored infantry vehicles for an international military customer. The order includes multiple TS-321 test stations as well as test programs, spares and training.Read more >>

"Marvin Test Solutions Expands TS-900 Platform"Irvine, CA. Sept 6, 2016 - Marvin Test Solutions has expanded the capabilities of its successful TS-900 PXI semiconductor test platform with the addition of the TS-960e system which offers PXI Express (PXIe) performance and expanded test capabilities for RF devices and SoC applications. The TS-960e builds on the integrated open-architecture of the TS-900 platform and accommodates PXIe and PXI modules - providing high-performance digital, mixed-signal, and RF test capabilities in a compact, single chassis footprint.Read more >>